With their first selection Thursday, the Kings picked Wyoming guard Justin James No. 40 overall in the 2019 NBA Draft.
James averaged 22.1 points per game as a senior last season, leading the Cowboys and the entirety of the Mountain West. He also grabbed 8.5 rebounds and dished out 4.4 assists per game, with the former mark standing sixth-best in the conference. Although Wyoming finished the season 8-24, James was second-team All-Mountain West, assisting on a conference-high 33 percent of the Cowboys' possessions with him on the court.
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As a senior, James was a volume scorer and averaged 17.4 field-goal attempts per game. He shot just 40.9 percent from the field and 29.6 percent from beyond the arc, and will need to rediscover the efficiency of his freshman and sophomore seasons (45.1 perceent from the field, 40 percent from 3) in order to stick in the NBA.
Still, James' peers in the Mountain West had high praise for him.
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Listed at 6-foot-7 and 190 pounds, James gives the Kings another option on the wing entering an uncertain summer. Harrison Barnes, Alec Burks and Corey Brewer can all become unrestricted free agents this offseason.
